July 27, 2003

At a news conference afterward, Armstrong, the leader of the United States Postal Service team, returned again and again to the problems, mainly physical and tactical but including two crashes and one near-crash, he had encountered. Some, like sickness, struck him even before the three-week race began on July 5.

"I think this year I had to rely more on strategy than on physical gifts or physical fitness,'' he said. "I think I can improve over my best, but certainly improve over this year. This year was not my best.

"We're very lucky to be in this position now. In many ways, it felt like an eerie Tour. This race should not have been this close.'' He won his previous four Tours by not less than six minutes.